Combined superheater and economizer.



n. MQ OSTERMANN.

COMBINED SUPERHEATER AND ECONOMIZER.

APPLICATloN rgLED Nov. 24. 19|s.

1,225,846. I Patented May 15, 1917:

f i. 3 SHEETS-SHEET 1- MWL-jm IN VEN 70B m l rra/Mfrs E. M. OSTERMANN.

COMBINED SUPERHEATER AND EcoNoMlzEn.

APFUCATIO?! FlLED NOV.24. l9l6- l Patented Mayl, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ull A lll nl@ */2 mul@ w/mfssfs VEA/ron TTUHWEYS 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Patented May 15, 1917. i

Illia... .Olsllol ,fdaaLf f wraps/.4

A TTORNEYS R. M. OSTERMANN.

)i Q N APPLICATION FILED NOV.24 1916.

i g F.'- l

COMBINED SUPERHEATER AND ECONOMIZER.

` ...loll

WITNESSES 4Pairiirrr oFIoE.

RUDOLEM. OSTERMANN, OF CHICA, ILLINOIS, `ASSIGNOR, TO LOCOMOTIVE SUPER- l HEATER COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., 'A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

sommigen SUP'HEATER AD EeoNoMlzEn.

Y all 'elm/ra 'it mog) concern;

lie it known that I, `Renoir M. 'Os'i'an- MANN, a citizen of the -Gcrnian Empire, re. siding iii the city of. Chien-go, county of Cook, and State of Illinois. have invented new -a'nd useful Inipi'ovenieiits'iii a4 Coin bu-ied Superl'ieater and l*`.cononiizer, of

which theV following is a specification.

My invention concerns a superheater of the well known flue tube type, having sui pei'lieater pipes ory elements iiiclosed in enlarged flue tubeswin combination with 'an eeoiioniizer or feed water lieater 'haring pipes tliroughwliioh the feed water to be heated is caused to How, said pipes being inclosed in the sanieenlai'ged flue tubes which contain the siiperlieater elements;

' Itis tlieob]'eet of-iny invention to provide a. combined sii-perheatcr;and eeono- Inizer, as just referred to, iii which a larger amount of lient sl-iall be abstracted by the water and stea'msystem .of the boiler than would be possible were either the super- ".lieater -or: the feed water heater used sepa` they' inutuallybear when in place rateiy or even were the. tobc eoinbiied in one =\boile'.r with siiperieater clement andV feed water e'lementin., separate- Hue tubes.' In other words; Vit'isthe object of iiiy invention, speaking generally, to provide a combined vSapri-heater and ec'ononiizer 'of the typefspecied Iaiidpiia superior etlieiency'. s

l My ii'iveiition' is applicablefto iue4 tube boilers of rarioustypes but is-intendedfpartieularlfor use in eoriincctioli with locomotifve lioilers'.

My invention will. be better ui'iderstood by referring vto rthe i accompanying drawings gitiidinal i section, Vtaken ap iroxiuiately through the. region indicated yj-tlie line 15-1 of Fig. 2, of 'somueli of a 'loeoiriotim lboiler structure as may befiieeessary to illus- 4tra-tez my invention; f Fig. 2 represents a. transverse sectional 'elevation taken along `the lhie, 2'2 of Fig. l; Fig. 3 represents it. palirtial horizontal section taken' along the line {3f-i3, of Fig: 1; Fig. 4 is a rspective view of asljumrli'eater element an ian econo, inizerelement showing the relation which in a flue tubeyFig. '5 lis a. rievv ,similar to 2, showing an arrangement of my. invention having a modied forni of economzer ele.-

Specioaltion of Letters Patent.

Patented May 15, 19133.

24,1916. seriai no. 133,202.

nient; Fig. 6 a sectional plan view al .iz the linc66 of Fig. 5; and Fig. 7 is a veifi tical` section taken along the 'line 7-7 of Fig. 5.

Referring to the drawings, the boiler 1 is of' usual type with front fluer sheet 2 and smoke box 3. In the Hue sheet 2 is arranged a plurality of enlarged flue tubes 4 arranged in horizontal and vertical rows in the usual way. different arrangement of the line tubes` iii'ay, however, be employed. Besides these enlarged Hue tubes, other flue tubes (not shown) of smaller size may also be employed as usual.

.-\i'i'au; red transversel)7 across the smoke box above the fiuetubes is a steam header comprisingr a Idistributing chamber 5 for saturated steam and a`eolle'eting elianiber fi for sulri'ei'heated steam, these chambers be- -ii ig' connected to alternated parallel disposed branohes'and 8 .for saturated and superheated steam respectively. The-saturated 4steam collector 5 is connected with .the steam dome `of the boiler by a main inlet pipe. 9 in the usual way and main outlet pipes (not shown) conneet the superlieated steani collector 6 to the steam chests of the engine. Other forms of steam header may be utilized within the spirit of the invention and claims'.

Each enlarged fiue. tube contains a superheatei' element 10 comprising two pipes in the lower part of the flue tube extending. nearly the full length of the saine and two other iipes lying in tlieiipper part of the [lue tu iefandl extending forwardly from the rea'i' eiid of the lower pipes about half the length of theflue tube. These four tubes are connected together in4 series" by suitable unions, and the free ends of the full length tubes are bent upwardly and connected to "adjacent branches 7 8, of the niaiii steam headerhin the usual way. A superlieater element. as just' described, having two of 'its four pipes extending approximatelytlie full length of thellue tube and the .remaining two of its four pipes extending forwardly lfrom the rear end of the other tubes approximately one half of the lengt-h of the Hue tube, has been found by experience and study to be a very desirable type of element in respect to securing,

tion andutilzation of theV gases to the steam within the snperbeater unit will increase with the difference of temperature between the fluegas and the steam, and also that the tem erature of the gasesI ilowing through the ue' iseontinu all7 decreasing from fire box to smoke box so that that part of the super-heater unit nearer to the fire box-is inoreeffect-ive than that part nearer to the smoke box; and that, further, with the Steam fiowing through the superhea-ter units with considerable Velocity, a certain amount of pressure is lost --in friction and that this loss of pressure -will depc|al`upon the length of the path through which the steam must travel in the saperla-atei' unit. It must further be remembered that this loss of stcanr pressure is, under certain conditions of locomotive operation, opposed to the de\'elopn1ent of maximum horse -power in the engine cylinders.

The above considerations indicate thatthe path of the steam should be shortened heater unit as possible should be as near thev lire ,box as possible. The type of superheater element show-n in the drawings and above described, and commonly known as a half return element, has been-found to best satisfy the Vabove enumerated condi'- tions. In respect tov the decrease of 'total -superlieater element heating surface caused by shortening the unit, the su erheating e'ect has also been decreased, ut it has been found, nevertheless, that under certain conditions of l'ocon'iotive operation, the gains resulting from this shortening of steam path more than compensate' for the aeconipanying loss of heat absorbing surface.

The adoption of the half return'superheater unit has, however, entailed two very serious disadvantages. The first disadvantage results from the fact that as soonas the flue gases,V

coming in the dirtion of .the "arrow from the tire box, reach the end of the short leg of the superheater element, ,theyjat once spread out owing t0 the greater free` cross section of the flue tube, thus slowing up in velocity and thereby permitting to be de posited upon the walls ofthe line tube and upon the superli'eater pipes'in the bottom of the flue tube alarge amount of solid ma` teria-l carried in su'spension bythe flue gases.

The free cross-,section of the flue tube will therefore be yrapidly filled up, thus lessening lthe'l dra-ft, and at the .saine 'time the heat absorbinrqualityof the flue walls 'and of the super eater pipes will be diminshedby reason of thenon-conducting coating of. solid material. v

element itself is made roimding t e fiue tube and to the steamvcontained 1n the forward part of the longer leg of the superheater element.

Q In Order to obviate the two disadvantages just mentioned andV at the'saine time tausefully employ the largest possible amount ot heat obtainable from the flue gases, I fill 'the space w-hieh has been left vacant in the upper part of each tlu'e tube by 'shortening the upper leg of the superheater element, with a. suita le feed water or economisereleinent 11 having its ends connected to a suitable eeononiizer. header. Thus, rel'erring to the drawings, this space in'the upper )art o f each flue tube which has been gained y shortening the upper leg. of the superheater elenient 1s` occupied b v a llal U- shaped loop, preferably ol' pipe haring the same size as that of which the 'sularl-ieater 'lhe outer ends ol each loop are bent upwardl)r and rearuzardtr as indicated at 12 and connected with suitable openings fornied 'inthe' front of narrow economizer headers 13 which are arranged transverscly in front of the ltube sheet and immediately above wlrhoiivlontal row of flue tubes. Preferably there are two sets of econoinizer headers, one occupying one side of the Smoke box and the other the other side of the Smoke. bo 'llhe.. inner ends of these headers are. alnitted together at the center and provided with suitable lugs 14 which arebolted together so as to assist in the support of the headers.

A pair tif-inlet Iand outlet pipes 15,16, are vertically disposed on each si de ofthe boiler and connect respectively to the .eeonoin'izer 15 passes through the several fee cleinents successively 'ami-leaves by pipe '16. '.lhe. free ends ofeach econom-lzcr clement may be fastened to the econoniizer headers 'nxaiiy manner usua'lfor superhealer.ele!

Hnichts. 'l`lius,A in the' embodiment 4herein described each end 1s spherlcally shaped-nml adapted to fit -a correspoialingly shaped o|` eningin the front of; the header; Acla'mp bar '17 and vbolt 18 liold'eacli pair of ends in lI )osition so as to provide a steam uml .header chambers. The arrangement is such that the. feed water entering through pipewater in the flue tube is to the same extent a pair of economizer elements of form. Owing to this .special forni of inizer clement, `a.

andgin the same way as it would be were there only the usual full length snperheater 'element and no econo.

mzer unit. It true that'there is a physical break in the pipes where the end of the short leg of the ysuperheater element adjouis the end of the economizer element but` econocorrcspondmg change in the structure of the headers to which said `economizer elements connect is required.

Similar parts 1n Figs. 5 to T inclusive are designated by the saine reference characters as are used lin Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive.

eferring now to Figs. 5, 6 and 7, each cconomizer element 11 comprises an outer tube 19 and an .inner spaced concentric tube 20,.thc outer ends of which are suitably conarranged transversely to the boiler and irnend of the front or third chamber 25. The

.iiected to chambers in headers 13 which are .inediately in front of the rows of flue tubes. The other' end `of each inner tube is `open and extends to within a short distance of the closed end of the outer tube. Preferably the inner tube is provided with an outer spiral 20 lof thin sheet metal, the outer edges of the spiral extending to the wall of the outer tube. v

Each header 13' comprises a series of linearly disposed chambers 23 lying immediately adjacent to the front tube sheet, a

second series of similar chambers 24 lying',`

just forward of the first series and displaced horizontally with reference thereto, and a third chamber 25 at the extreme front of ard extending entirely across said header. The outer tubes 19 extend through the rear wall of the header into thechambers 23 while the inner tubesr 20 extend through the chambers 23 and through the rearwall of the series-of chambers 24. The front chamber 25 and the chamber 23 which lies adjacent to the center 0f the boiler are connected together., A mainV inlet pipe 15 opens into the outside chamber 23 and a main outlet pipe 16 opens into the outer artitions which go to make up the cham- Fers of the rst and second series are so disposed, relatively to one another, that water entering the inlet ipe 15 will enter-the outer'economizer e ement 11 between. its inner and outer tube and, following the path determined by thespiral 20 between said tubes, will enter tube remote fromthe the end of its inner tube sheet and passccncerned, this is filled and outer-tubes of -second chamber of special Ving therethroughwill enter the outer chlilfilber of the second series. Hencejtkwll pass .into the inner tube of the second economizer element andf,reachingthe end of ,said ..ele 4ment remote from. the tube sheet, will-.return through the. space ,between theinner the element to-'enter `.the

enters the space betweemthe ,outer and. inner tubes of the ythird economizer element,;re-

'turning through the inner tube to;tlietsec ond chamber' of the second series 'and sa on until. it finally emerges from `the space ibetween the inner and Vouter tubes economizer element of .the row `at 4the .een-'i ter of `the boi1er,.`fr,om whencev it..passes through the passage providedftozt chamber 25 ando'ut..tli'roug Pipe 16' #l i 'I have found the spiral wound "n the space between the y of the econoniizer elementsv advantageous inasmuch as it causes the first series. Ittlie'nI inner and outer tubes' .of the (last the water which. is to Y be heated to pass between the tubesniore slowly than would otherwise bethewciwe and thereby gives `the ,water an opportunity to absorb a large` amount ;of `lient- This spiralniay,however, .be vomitted if desired.

It will bc noticedfthat, iii the construction just described, two of the concentricitiibe types of economizer clement replace. the single U-shaped economizer element fof. :the forni shown in Figs. 1 to 4,35. e., each-ofthe last described economizer elcmentsreplaces a vsingle legi'A of the clement of the first -described forni.

lVhilc l have described the 'short leg of4 the superlieater element as having `one half the length of the longer leg, v'ariations-froni this proportion may be used without departingv from the invention. Such variations merely vary the degree in whithtlie superheater and economizer units perform their, functions with respect to Ione another and will be dictated by the particular requirements which it may be desired to fulfiL It is also not essential that the longer lei,r

VVof `the superlieater should lie at the bottom of the fille tube at the top. These` versed or the parts rauged'- one on one side and the other on the other side o'f the lue tube. v 0r the and the economizcr unit positions might be re planes of the loops of `said two parts might be given Som'ejntermediate positions.

Still ,other forms of header and other ai'- I rangements of the economizer inlet and olitlet pipes may, of course. he employed within the spirit of the invention and of the following claims. 4

This application is a continuation in part of my earlier application entitled bined superheater andeconomizer States Patent Oilice the United Serial No. 108,127, theforms filed in July 8, 1916, of the invenreferred to might be aipipes, two ofwhieh are Hof the tlue tube while the Aeach of some of -super-heater lend of said in said earlier application.' I-cla1m-- drawings having been disclosed and claims-1 1. In a boiler provided with a plurality' of enlarged flue tubes. the combination with element comprising four serially disposed in one plane and extend substantially th'e entire vlength' of the lel plane und extend from the rear ends of the longer pipes to a Apoint well to the rear of the smoke box. an eeonomizer element 1n the same plane as the shorter leg of the element and extending from the shorter leg ,to the SlIlOke bOX, means for passing steam from .the boiler through the superlteater elements and means for passing water through the economizet` elements to the boiler.

2. In a boiler provided with a plurality oi enlarged tlue tubes. the combination with eat-h of some heater element eomprising tour serially disposed pipes, two oi whieh are in one plane and extend substantially" the entire length other two are in u parallel plane and extend from' the rear ends of the longer pipes to a point well to the rear of the smoke box. an eeonomizer element eomprising a single loop of two pipes in the same plane as the shorter leg ot the. superlu-ater element and extending from the end of said shorter leg to `the smoke box. means for passing steam from the boiler elements and means l'or passing water through the eeononiizer elements to the boiler.'

. ln :r boiler provided with it plurality ot' enlarged ll-l'ie'tubes. the combinationwith thelonger pipes to a eaeh of some of sueh tubes. ot a superheater element eomprising ,tour seriali)Y disposed pipes two ot' whit-h are in oneplane and extend substantiall)v the entire length ot the tlue tube while the other two are in a parallel plane 'and extend from the rear-ends ol' point wellfto the rear ol' the smoke box. an eeonomizer element eomprising a single loop ot` two pipes in the sal'ne plane' as the su|ufrheaterAelementzand extending from the elul ot said shorter'leg to tfhe slnoke, box,

means "for passing steam from the boiler through the superheater elements in parallel amtmeans l'or passing water through the eeonomizer elements in series to the, boiler.

pipes two o sueh tubes, of ay superhcater ofl said shorter leg header in the of lndependenf chambers -the- `means for intrmlueing water -zontal vplane and shorter-.leg of the- 4. In a boiler lprovided with a plnral'itiv of enlarged -lue tubes, the combination with each 'of some such tubes,l of a superh-ater element com )rising four 'ser/i'ally disposed which are in one` plane and extend substantially the entire length of the Huetube while the other two are in a paral' lel plane and extend from the rear ends ofv the longer-pipes to apointwell to the rear of' the smoke box, an economize'r element comprising a single loop' of two pipes in the.

same plane as the shorter leg of the superf heater element and extending vfrom the end to the smoke box. means for passing steam from. the boiler through the, superheater elements, an eeonomizer smoliebox provided with a plurality chambers being adapted to be connected serially by the. eeonomizer elements. and

chamber of the series and for t|' \n sferring water from the other end chamber i boiler. s

5. 1n a boiler provided with aplurality ot enlargedliue tubes arranged in horizontal into one endv to the,

rows, the combination with eaeli of a pluv rality of tubes in said rows. of a superheater ele-ment comprising four. serially disposed pipes two of which lie in one horiextend substantially the entire length ot' the tlue tube while the other two Vare in a parallel plane and extend -from the rear ends ot' the longer. pipes for substantially halt': the length of the tlue tube. an eeonomizer element eomprising a single. loop ot two pipes in the same plane 'asthe shorter le'g oi' the superheater element and extending from the end of said shorter leg.-

tothe smoke box` a steam header having a eol-leetingand distributing chamber for saturated and superheatedsteam reswetivelv. the ends ot the sulurh'eater elenunts being eonneeted in parallel to said .ehambers. andl a transverse eeonomizer header for eaeh row ot'l eeonomizer elements adjaeent. to the ends ol' the llue tubes said header having hulependent ehambers and the ends ot' the eeonomizer elements vbeing ehainbers so as to constitute one eontinnous series, the end Chambers ot' the series being resluetivel)v joined to a son-ree .of 'water supply and ,totheboileiz In testil'nony whereof I havehereunto set my hand.

RUDOLF M. os'rlcmmxx.

et'inneeted between 

